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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052209">There is a Place</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_khaleesi/pseuds/kira_khaleesi'>kira_khaleesi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Ben Solo Deserves Better, Ben's the dead person, Canon Compliant Dead Character, F/M, Hopeful Ending, It's Ben, Not so thinly veiled TROS hate, One Shot, Or Is he?, Post-Canon, Post-TRoS, Rey Needs A Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:01:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_khaleesi/pseuds/kira_khaleesi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Devastated by the events on Exegol, Rey is numb to the victory of the Resistance. One night, she is woken from a fitful sleep to hear a voice.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Come find me.</i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyreyButt/gifts">ReyreyButt</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>based on this lovely art by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyreyButt/pseuds/ReyreyButt"> Reyreybutt </a><br/></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rey is empty. She pretends. Pretends that there is not a gaping hole in her being. </p><p> </p><p>She wears those same clothes, the white that was once pristine and is now covered in blood. His, and hers. </p><p> </p><p>Stumbling her way through the ceremonies and celebrations, she watches, uncaring as the new world is established. A new world in which she feels utterly lost, hopeless, and alone. And so, she runs. </p><p> </p><p>Away from the new world that Poe is so excited to build, away from Stormtrooper rehabilitation and politicking and the unfairness. </p><p> </p><p>Alone, and empty, Rey is unable to take the injustice of it all.</p><p> </p><p>That a mother and father who died to save their son died for nothing. </p><p> </p><p>That a man who had lost himself for so many years, returned to the battle to protect balance and peace, only to have the purpose of his death robbed from him. </p><p> </p><p>That thousands of children who did not know any better because they were given no choice were slaughtered during a war that lasted too long and hurt too many. </p><p> </p><p>That someone brilliant, a mechanic with a kind heart and strong will was and continues to be pushed to the sidelines.</p><p> </p><p>It’s all too much. </p><p> </p><p>Rey leaves the lush jungle of Ajan Kloss, feeling out of place on a system so full of life and wonder. First, motivated by a longing to rid herself of weapons weighed down by pain, Rey does what she does best and scavenges. </p><p> </p><p>She jumps from system to system, picking up the parts that she needs until she finally has her own weapon. </p><p> </p><p>It hangs from her belt, heavy and unused. </p><p> </p><p>When she was a child, she would dream of planets green and warm and dripping with life. </p><p> </p><p>Instead, she finds a place that is as desolate and barren as she feels. </p><p> </p><p>Tatooine is brutal, its environment harsh and unforgiving. </p><p> </p><p>A place that has a beauty to it, the same way that a mausoleum or statue of a hero long dead can be beautiful. There is nothing here for Rey, just as there was nothing here but tragedy for the people she loved that passed through before her. Nothing but skeletons and dust. </p><p> </p><p>At least here, Rey doesn’t have to pretend. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She buries Luke and Leia’s sabers in the sand. Rey can’t imagine that this is where either of them had imagined a final resting place, but, given the tragic way in which their family tree was burned to the ground, perhaps a tragic burial is fitting. </p><p> </p><p>An old woman asks her for her name, and she calls herself Rey Skywalker. </p><p> </p><p>She is already doomed to a calamitous life of suffering, struggle, and heartbreak; she’ll fit right in with the Skywalker family.  </p><p> </p><p>Despite the similarities in scenery, Rey’s life on Tatooine has some striking differences to her like on Jakku. First, being that she is not alone. BB8 is her ever present companion, helping her clean the old Lars homestead and receiving incoming messages from the former Resistance. </p><p> </p><p>Rey can’t bring herself to care what they call themselves now. </p><p> </p><p>In the first few weeks Poe had called often, requesting her help on so-called peace keeping occupations or escorting politicians around. Rey had not so politely told him that she is not a soldier, that she never was, and provided a litany of locations where he could shove it next time he wanted to recruit into a non-existent fight.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t call anymore, and neither does Finn.</p><p> </p><p>Much to Rey’s surprise, Rose calls often. Every other day, without fail, Rose calls to check in. She doesn’t probe too deep about where Rey is or what she is up to, but it’s nice. </p><p> </p><p>To know that there is someone who cares.</p><p> </p><p>The second difference between now, on Tatooine, and then, on Jakku, is that when she was a child she was filled with hope. </p><p> </p><p>Longing that her parents would return. </p><p> </p><p>That she would be loved.</p><p> </p><p>Now, she has no hope. </p><p> </p><p>She knows that she did have love, but that that love is gone. </p><p> </p><p>There is some comfort in this constant state of despair- with no hope for a future Rey no longer worries about what is to come or has any care to be disappointed. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>At night, she dreams. </p><p> </p><p>When they get too real - her and Ben walking through grass hand in hand, both of their hair graying - Rey can wake herself up. But when they are sad and dark, she forces herself to endure it. </p><p> </p><p>It’s nothing she didn’t already live through. </p><p> </p><p>She is in the middle of one such nightmare, watching as Ben gets thrown into a pit to meet his end, when-</p><p> </p><p>-<em> Come find me</em>. </p><p> </p><p>-a voice sounds in her head, so solid and so clear that she has no doubt that it is real. </p><p> </p><p>She sits up, closes her eyes, and inhales deeply.</p><p> </p><p><em> Come find me</em>. </p><p> </p><p>It calls to her, and for the first time in months, hope blooms in her chest.</p><p> </p><p>So Rey packs her things, and she follows. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Rey had burned those awful white clothes, the clothes she wore when she died, the clothes she wore when <em> he </em> died, soon after her arrival on Tatooine. </p><p> </p><p>Now, travelling across the galaxy to wherever it is that voice (<em> his </em> voice?) will lead her, her attire has changed. Dressed in her worn, comfortable grey pants and brown boots, paired with her staff, Rey feels more like herself. Not Rey Skywalker, not Rey the Jedi of the Resistance, nor Rey of Jakku.</p><p> </p><p>Just Rey.</p><p> </p><p>The person she always dreamed she would be. </p><p> </p><p>Her torso is warmed by the tunic - <em> Ben’s </em> tunic. The one with a hole she cannot be bothered to patch from their fight on Kef Bir. She had had to roll the sleeves up several times, and even belted tightly at her waist it falls well below her hips. </p><p> </p><p>But it’s helpful, to have a piece of him with her. </p><p> </p><p>The voice leads her to many places, systems the likes of which she has never seen. In each place, she sees memories. Whose they are, she does not yet know, but she follows the voice anyways.</p><p> </p><p>On Naboo, she hears a woman stern and direct. </p><p> </p><p><em> We live in a real world, come back to it</em>. </p><p> </p><p>Then, traversing through Geonosis there is a young man. </p><p> </p><p><em> Don’t be afraid</em>. </p><p> </p><p>On each planet there is anger, hate, and suffering embedded deep in the essence of the world. When she arrives on Mustafar a wave of failure that burns hot and thick brings her to her knees.</p><p> </p><p>The surface bears the scars of an earth that was once scorched, blazing fire covering the surface. Now, it is only ash. </p><p> </p><p>On top of a hill, she sees a man, with orange-brown hair and a beard. There are tears in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> You were my brother.  </em>
</p><p><em> I loved you</em>.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>For the first time since Ben died, Rey feels tears wet her cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>She cries for them all, everyone and everything. All the suffering endured by the ghosts that the voice has led her too. </p><p> </p><p>For the first time since Ben died, Rey cries for herself and everything that the world has put her through.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The first time Rey hesitates in her pursuit of the voice is when it takes her to the Endor system. A place where an old war pretended to be over, a place haunted by her own mistakes. After hours of sitting in orbit over Kef Bir, contemplating her next steps, Rey shrugs and prepares for landing. </p><p> </p><p>What awaits her here cannot be worse than all she has survived. </p><p> </p><p><em> Come find me </em> . <em> Come find me. Come find me. Come find me. Come find me. Come find me. Come find me. Come find me. </em></p><p> </p><p>When she lands in the middle of the grassy plain, the voice goes silent and is replaced by something else. </p><p> </p><p>Something familiar. </p><p> </p><p>It’s Ben. </p><p> </p><p>Or, a remnant of him. </p><p> </p><p>Something small and warm and soothing, like the too-big tunic that drapes over her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>Whatever it is, the piece of Ben that lives here, Rey doesn’t find it in the first day, or week, or month on Kef Bir.</p><p> </p><p>But she is willing to wait. So she keeps looking. </p><p> </p><p>One evening, while walking on the beach, Rey trips over something. A rock perhaps, barely protruding from the sand. </p><p> </p><p>Curious, Rey crouches to cautiously uncover the object, only to fall flat on her rear when it reveals itself. </p><p> </p><p>Though slightly damaged from the rough waves and sand, the wide hilt and wiring are unmistakable; it is Ben’s weapon. The one he arrived on Exegol without. </p><p> </p><p>As she holds it in her hand, a presence slowly takes shape behind her. </p><p> </p><p>“Ben!” Rey whirls around to face him and is greeted by-</p><p> </p><p>-Someone else. </p><p> </p><p>Not Ben. </p><p> </p><p>A man with sandy brown hair and a scar over one of his eyes stands before Rey, hands clasped behind his back. He doesn’t say anything as his eyes rove over her form. </p><p> </p><p>With a crease between her brows, Rey takes in his appearance. The height, set of his jaw, mischievous glint in his eye, and emotions that radiant off of his Force signature...Rey exhales. </p><p> </p><p>“Anakin?”</p><p> </p><p>He nods. “It’s nice to meet you, Rey.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey hums. “Those were your memories that I saw.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” Rey tilts her head to the side. </p><p> </p><p>“You needed time,” Anakin shrugs, “before I brought you here. You weren’t ready.”</p><p> </p><p>“It was a distraction?” Rey huffs. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes.” The corner of his mouth lifts in a half grin that is so painfully Ben, Rey has to look away. </p><p> </p><p>Exhaling through her teeth, Rey asks “So why did you bring me here? To find Ben’s weapon?”</p><p> </p><p>“A couple of reasons. First, I wanted to thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey frowns. “For what?”</p><p> </p><p>“For looking after my grandson.” He swallows, and then sighs, before continuing, “we, my family, rather mucked it up. He would have lived a very different life if not for you.”</p><p> </p><p>“But I-” Rey sniffs as tears well in her eyes, “I <em> failed </em>. Maybe he’d still be alive, if I had done something, anything differently I could have-”</p><p> </p><p>She sobs, unable to finish her plea. A look of understanding crosses Anakin’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey.” He inclines his head slightly toward her. “You didn’t fail.”</p><p> </p><p>Wiping the tears from her face, Rey tries to reign her breathing back in. “I just want him back.” She sighs. </p><p> </p><p>“I know.” Anakin nods. “That’s the second reason I brought you here.”</p><p> </p><p>Blinking quickly, Rey looks up at him. “What do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” Anakin smiles and Rey could swear that his eyes sparkle. “There is a place…”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Later that day, Rey leaves Kef Bir. </p><p> </p><p>With Ben’s saber beside hers and his tunic keeping her warm, she asks BB8 to plot a course. </p><p> </p><p>For the first time since she can remember, Rey smiles. </p><p> </p><p>She will get him back. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>based on this lovely art by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyreyButt/pseuds/ReyreyButt"> Reyreybutt </a><br/><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/189214473@N06/s5WM8y"></a></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His- <em> Ben’s </em> weapon hangs heavy on her belt, but the weight is comforting. It feels solid against her, a reminder- proof that all is not lost. </p><p> </p><p>That there is a place. </p><p> </p><p>A place that Ben might be, a place that he can come back from.</p><p> </p><p><em> There’s someone who still could</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Rey leaves BB8 to supervise the Falcon for a little while, wandering into the bunk of the ship. Taking a seat on the bed, she unclips the saber, holding it reverently in her hands. Though it was crafted and wielded by another, it calls to her. </p><p> </p><p>As she closes her eyes, breathing deep, Rey reaches out to the crystal. Moisture beads in her eyes as it’s presence announces itself to her, and it is- <em> oh, </em> is it just like Ben. Crackling with a raw, feral energy that aches to be released, volatile from years of inflicting hurt to avoid feeling what had been inflicted. </p><p> </p><p>The crystal screams for release, for the soft touch of kindness. </p><p> </p><p>She cannot help but sob, her eyes springing open. </p><p> </p><p>It is not despair but <em> relief </em> that floods her being. On Exegol Rey had felt him, holding her, and for a brief moment they had been infinite- and then he vanished. Half of her being, her soulmate, her other half, ripped from her by the cruel hands of the universe.</p><p> </p><p>She had thought she would never feel him again.</p><p> </p><p>But here, in her hands, there is a piece of him.</p><p> </p><p>A piece that will guide her to the rest.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Anakin had spoken of a place, a world that is both like and unlike ours. It exists out of time and space, it is everywhere and nowhere, holding beings in stasis when their time is not yet up. When Rey had asked how he knew of such a place, Anakin had sighed, pain flashing across his face as he explained that he had sent someone there. While he was lost, deep in the persona of Vader, he had fought someone that had once been dear to him.</p><p> </p><p>Now that she knows it is possible, now that she has hope, Rey is able to breathe. The weight of a life fated to emptiness and desperation lifted from her chest.</p><p> </p><p>Rey does not return to Tatooine. Instead, travelling to a world she has read about with a strong relationship to the Force. </p><p> </p><p>Dathomir is not the darkened wasteland she had expected from stories. Like Mustafar, this system is in the midst of rebirth, remaking itself from pain that shaped it decades ago. Once, it was populated with witches; fearsome warriors that knew more about the Force than most Jedi. </p><p> </p><p>Exterminated in the ages of the Empire, their homeworld was left to rot. </p><p> </p><p>And yet, life has found a way.</p><p> </p><p>Reading through her notes and shouting at BB8 to record things that seem important - the parts that mention a nexus point, like a shortcut between systems that are impossibly far from each other. From what she gathers, these connections are like tunnels crafted by the Force, but instead of traversing only distance they also cross time.</p><p> </p><p>There are risks in what she is attempting. </p><p> </p><p>She may lose herself to this place between, get stuck in a separate channel than Ben and spend eternity alone without time nor space.</p><p> </p><p>It is also possible that Ben is not there at all, but Rey doesn’t believe that.</p><p> </p><p>She knows in heart that Ben is waiting for her, and she won’t let him down.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Rey cannot help but laugh, harder than she has in a long time- maybe her entire life, when it turns out that the nexus point for Exegol is on Ach-To. That the place Luke had chosen to shut himself off the world in fear of destroying it and the place she had fled to when she tried to outrun her feelings for Ben, <em> that </em> is the place to which Rey must go to find him. </p><p> </p><p>Perhaps the Force has a sense of humour.</p><p> </p><p>Her arrival on the island is uneventful, the fish nuns scowl. No doubt still harboring a slight grudge against her for the messes she has made during both previous visits. </p><p> </p><p>Rey nods at them, before climbing the steps to the cave with the fountain, taking a seat on the cold stone floor to meditate. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to her that the place that calls to her is the same that had all that time ago. </p><p> </p><p>The mirror cave beneath the island. </p><p> </p><p>With both weapons on her belt and her staff in hand, Rey makes her way there. This time, she jumps down into the water instead of falling. Unlike the last time, the temperature of the water is warm, almost like what she imagines a bath would feel like. As if it is welcoming her. She takes it as a good sign.</p><p> </p><p>She doesn't know how long she sits in front of the mirror, Ben’s weapon on the ground in front of her, just breathing. </p><p> </p><p>Time is of no consequence. </p><p> </p><p>There were no instructions for this process, no section of old Jedi books that laid out the steps for finding a loved one that is stuck in the world between and bringing them back to you. Rey trusts in the Force, and that it will guide her when she is ready.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s eyes shoot open.</p><p> </p><p>The crystal is the answer. Gently, so as to not damage the parts for reassembly, Rey takes Ben’s saber apart until the crystal sits in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>It feels like him.</p><p> </p><p>It feels like home. </p><p> </p><p>With the crystal in her hand and Ben in her heart, Rey stands and walks until she is face to face with her own reflection, her nose nearly touching the mirror. Then, she closes her eyes and kneels.</p><p> </p><p>“Please.” Rey whispers.</p><p> </p><p>In her hand, the crystal begins to heat, eventually getting so hot that she has to release it. Eyes open, she watches, entranced as it rises in the air until it is level with her heart.</p><p> </p><p>Something blue flits across the bottom of her vision.</p><p> </p><p>Tilting her head to the side, Rey’s eyebrows crease together at the sight of several tiny, luminescent blue butterflies. Tentatively, she reaches a hand out. One of the small creatures flutters past her face before landing softly on one of her fingers. Light as a porg feather, it is barely there.</p><p> </p><p><em> We’ve been waiting for you</em>. The butterfly’s voice murmurs into her mind. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Follow me.<br/></em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>check out some of my other stuff! and find me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/OctopusSoap"> @OctopusSoap </a></p><p><b>Canonverse</b><br/>Completed:<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25041910"> Fall Into Me Babe </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202533"> As the Force Wills It (a tros fix it) </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139000"> this boy wasn't meant for lovin' </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24022474"> a crack fic </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23904049"> Tears in Rain </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826646"> our love ain't water under the bridge </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23199568"> Traditional </a><br/>WIPs:<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25089400"> What You Take With You </a></p><p><b>AUs</b>:<br/>Completed:<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Reylo_Red"> Reylo Red Collection </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24146353"> Nobody Gets Left Behind </a> (Leia POV)<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578291"> Part of Your World </a> (a gender-swapped Ponyo AU)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>check out some of my other stuff! and find me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/OctopusSoap"> @OctopusSoap </a></p><p><b>Canonverse</b><br/>Completed:<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25041910"> Fall Into Me Babe </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202533"> As the Force Wills It (a tros fix it) </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139000"> this boy wasn't meant for lovin' </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24022474"> a crack fic </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23904049"> Tears in Rain </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826646"> our love ain't water under the bridge </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23199568"> Traditional </a><br/>WIPs:<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25089400"> What You Take With You </a></p><p><b>AUs</b>:<br/>Completed:<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Reylo_Red"> Reylo Red Collection </a><br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24146353"> Nobody Gets Left Behind </a> (Leia POV)<br/><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578291"> Part of Your World </a> (a gender-swapped Ponyo AU)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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